CHLOE

To Start Anew

She knew everyone would be disappointed, but she pocketed the check. She rationalized it immediately: it would serve as compensation for all his cruelty and all his baseless allegations. She could now properly forget the fact that she had ever met him that evening at the Art Gallery.

​Strangely, she didn't feel bad. There was no guilt. It's totally not my fault he thinks that way towards me, she argued internally. Instead of feeling distraught over his harsh words, she felt... comforted by the monetary security. This was the first time a person misunderstanding her had turned out to be a blessing.

​She kept the money in a bank for a time deposit. She didn't touch it. She was still the "wise-spender," and she didn't need that much money to live. Her salary was quite enough for her, in fact, more than enough that she could still send money to her parents back home, as she always did.

​Chloe was left with a confusing mix of emotions. How was she supposed to tell her future kids and grandkids the story of meeting a prince when it was for such a brief moment and ended so poorly? Well, she supposed, not all stories ended with a happy ending.

Four months later, the foundation she worked with decided to send a few therapists back to her home country to be mentors for the new batch of teacher/therapists in training. Sadly, she was one of those selected. She was leaving Hong Kong for good, ready to face a whole new life ahead of her. She was starting fresh, she was starting... grand.

When she got home, the foundation gave her three weeks off before she could start work. She decided to treat her parents and herself to a one-week family vacation. The first place she had promised to take them, once she could afford it, was South Korea.

She called for flight and tour reservations but couldn't find any Asian tour packages available; everything was fully booked. However, they did have available Europe tour packages. It was still abroad, so she took it. She brought her parents to Paris, France.

Ah, France! What a lovely country. She enjoyed the European hospitality, and the ambiance was new and refreshing. This inspired her to lead a new life full of hope and dreams for a bright future. She felt poetic—France was indeed a home of the artists and philosophers.

Yet, even though France offered great views and fantastic experiences, she couldn't shake the feeling that her European tour was lacking something, and she couldn't figure out what it was.

So, she spent one day alone and ventured around France to see what she had been missing. Her feet took her to... an Art Gallery. How she got there, she had no idea.

She got inside and wandered, realizing that the "feels" of the Art Gallery in Hong Kong and in France were almost the same. She figured every art gallery in the world was similar. The displays inside were artifacts, history with dead owners, and she found it all a bit creepy, feeling as though their ghosts were attached to the objects.

Not far from where she was situated, there was a group of intellectuals, which she believed were psychologists based on the topic they were discussing. The tour guide asked them where they were from. She overheard them say "Liechtenstein" and that they were in France for a Psychology Convention.

Liechtenstein, huh? That was a familiar place. Isn't that where Princ—oh, nevermind, forget about him.

But, Liechtenstein! It was a country to look forward to. She very much would like to visit there. And she would.

After the one-week France tour was over, she told her parents that she would like to stay in Europe for a week more and that they could go back home first without her. They agreed, telling her to take care and reminding her to be back for work and not to be late.

Liechtenstein—a half-modern and half-classic principality located in central Europe between Austria and Switzerland. It was governed by a hereditary constitutional monarchy with a prince as the head of the state. (In this story - it is a kingdom ruled by the King and his Queen).

Chloe knew the details: a population of only 38,000, primary transportation via trains from Austria and Switzerland, ranking highly for literacy and boasting one of the world's lowest crime rates, similar to HongKong.

Crucially, they held the number one spot for the highest standard of living. What a heavenly place! she thought.

She had assumed her trip to Liechtenstein would be a peaceful one. She was wrong.

He caught her. The royal highness, Prince Magnus, found her. How he found out she was in his country, she had no clue. What she knew for sure was that he was effective at keeping people followed and investigated—more like he was the stalker he had accused her of being.

So there she was, taken to Vaduz Castle like she was a criminal who had committed a major offense. No amount of explaining her clear intention of "just visiting/vacation" would help her clear her name.

She was ushered into a dimly lit room where Prince Magnus was waiting, his expression colder and more severe than she remembered.

"I warned you, Chloe Jung," he stated, his voice low and dangerous. "Four months ago, I told you to disappear. Yet here you are. In my country. Wandering my capital."

Chloe finally found her voice, though it trembled slightly. "I assure you, Your Highness, this is purely a coincidence. I simply took a week's vacation after my France trip. I've always been interested in visiting Liechtenstein."

Magnus scoffed, leaning back in his chair. "A coincidence? You stalk me on social media, you 'coincidentally' appear at a venue you knew I would be at in Hong Kong, and now, four months after I explicitly paid you to ensure your silence and absence, you 'coincidentally' land in my home country. You are pathetic."

The word stung far worse than "disgusting" had four months prior.

"That is grossly unfair!" she protested. "I came here as a tourist. I work as a therapist. I have a professional life I was returning to. I don't need your money or your drama."

"Your protests are tiresome," he cut her off, rising to his full height. "I've had enough. This time, I'm not sending you off with money, but with a threat." His eyes bore into hers. "You will leave the principality within 24 hours. If you ever set foot in Liechtenstein again, I will personally ensure you are permanently blacklisted from entering any country in the Schengen Area. Do you understand, Ms. Jung?"

The threat was not funny. She finally felt a chilling fear that overrode her indignation. She could not risk being banned from an entire continent simply because of a prince's paranoia. She no longer protested and simply nodded, deciding to leave for good.

"Yes, Your Highness. I understand."

"Good. Now get out."

That was a nightmare.

A police car served as Chloe's ride to the airport where she would board a plane that would send her back to France. Both her hands were tied up, and she was escorted by high-security personnel. She completely looked like an insane lady being transported to another country's asylum.

She wanted to laugh at her situation right now, wishing it hadn't happened. This was all so embarrassing, and all because he thought she was his stalker.

She had to say this, and she was sorry if she would: he was a douchebag, a moron, an arrogant airhead who thought every girl was dreaming to marry him. Why did she bother to call him names? They weren't going to see each other again anyway... like ever.